A Flash of Green
by aroniwen
Summary: Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. Halloween 1975 to Halloween 1981. Six years in the life of James Potter.
1. Chapter 1

James Potter froze. He could have sworn he had heard heavy footsteps echoing down the supposedly empty hallway. He strained to hear more, but an instant later the three bodies slamming into him drowned out any sound.

"Peter," Remus hissed, "that was my foot."

"Remus," Peter whispered back, "that was my arse." Sirius muffled a laugh as they quickly shifted away from each other, moving as far as they could under the delicate fabric of the invisibility cloak.

"James." Sirius poked him in the back of his head. James ignored him. He was listening intently. The whispering and rustling of the roused portraits made it almost impossible to discern any background noise. "James," Sirius repeated, louder this time, "why did you stop?"

"Quiet, Sirius," he whispered and automatically held up a hand although he knew none of them could see it. _There,_ he thought, _everyone must have heard _that James smiled as, in silent unison, they all pressed themselves against the wall; they were the perfect team.

Apollyon Pringle, an aged caretaker, stomped along the stone corridor, holding a lantern above his hunched form and staring darkly into the shadows created by its flickering light. "Damn brats," he muttered to himself. James had to stifle a giggle. "Got to be around here somewhere, I can feel it." He moved slowly past the place where they stood, his head tilted as if he was trying to sniff them out.

Suddenly, he whipped the lantern around, illuminating an ancient painting of a witch high up on the wall. She had a Hogwarts crest sewn onto her robes, James noticed as she lifted a hand to cover her smile; she must have been a student here. "Well?" Pringle barked at her. "Have you seen any students out of bounds?"

"No." She giggled. "I haven't seen anybody but you all night."

"And put that light out" growled the portrait of Gaerwn Vaughan, the head of Ravenclaw from 1391 to 1462 if his plaque was to be trusted. "In my day young people were more respectful, why, if I could still use a wand…" Pringle quickly covered his lamp and looked around viciously before moving on.

"Ah." Sirius threw off the cloak and stretched noisily when they were sure Pringle was gone. "Jamie-my-boy," he sighed again, "I appreciate the cloak as much as the next man but it's starting to get crowded under there."

"Well, maybe if you hadn't gotten so tall-" James began as he shrugged out from under it himself, but Sirius cut him off.

"Maybe if Peter hadn't eaten so much over the summer…"

"Shut up, Sirius. You eat more than the rest of us put together." James could hear Peter's voice emerging from the apparently empty space by the wall. "And get back under here, someone's going to see you."

The portrait of the young witch giggled again, and James looked up to see her, high on the wall.

"Relax, Peter." James shrugged it off. "He's got to be all the way past that statue of Hildegard the Horrible on the third floor."

"No," Remus argued, stepping out from under the cloak himself, "I bet that he went down to the kitchens; that's where we hit last time."

"Come _on_." James rolled his eyes. "Even _he_ knows that we never hit the same place twice in a row."

"I still say that he went to the kitchens," Remus insisted.

"Galleon says he didn't." James grinned at Remus and reached into his pocket. The other boy blinked at him before smiling.

"You're on."

Peter, James noticed, had let the cloak slip down to around his shoulders and was watching the scene with interest. "How are you going to find out who is right?"

"I don't know," Remus answered first. "Summoning Charm of some sort, what do you think?"

"He would notice that for sure," James objected. "How about a Tracking Charm?"

"You can't cast that," said Sirius as he gave James a withering look, "you've got to have a direct line of sight to cast that charm."

"Well, have you got a better idea?" James asked, slightly miffed at Sirius' condescending attitude. "And don't say," James continued as Sirius opened his mouth to reply, "that you'll follow him. He'd notice you for sure and you'd never get back to the Great Hall."

"Excuse me?" said a clear voice from high above them. "I think that I might be able to help you."

"Who…" Sirius began and then glanced upwards to see the pretty witch waving at him. "Oh, I see, well, milady, if you think that you can settle these two imbeciles and let us get on with the Halloween Prank, then I'd be much obliged." He winked at her and swept a florid bow.

She giggled again; James was beginning to suspect that she was a victim of a Cheering Charm gone awry. Or, rather, he would have if half the girls in their year hadn't suddenly begun to giggle whenever they spoke to them. Girls were profoundly weird, he had decided. Most of them were not worth the effort.

"It shouldn't be too much trouble," she answered, bringing him back to the present. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

The four boys waited in silence for a while. Finally, after glancing at his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time, James spoke up. "If we don't get a move on, we're never going to get this done in time."

"Afraid you're going to lose, Potter?" Remus shot James a challenging look that didn't even come close to disguising his amusement.

James decided to play along. "Attempting to sully the Potter honour, are you?" he asked in mock affront.

"Actually, I think that you're doing a good job of that yourself." There was a pause as Remus twisted up his mouth before letting out a snort of laughter.

Inevitably, Sirius was unable to resist adding his own opinion on the matter. "Besides, everybody knows that the Potters have no honour. Muggle lovers! Blood traitors!" He did look eerie standing there in the darkened corridor, the pale light of his wand washing away all colour from his face. His lips were pulled back and his teeth were bared as he imitated his mother's screechy tones.

Then he dropped his hand and laughed, and the spell was broken. Peter, who had met Mrs. Black on numerous social occasions, was in hysterics. Even Remus chuckled, having heard more than enough stories to sympathize with Sirius.

"That's it!" James declared suddenly. "I cannot just sit back and listen to this, especially from the worst prefect Gryffindor Tower has ever seen!"

"And I got appointed over you, so what does that say?" James was saved from replying by a loud laugh on Peter's part.

"Five points to Gryffindor," Remus choked out before all four of them burst out laughing, as much at Peter's laugh as at anything. "Besides." Remus smirked after a couple moments. "I enforce all the important rules."

"The important rules, Moony?" Sirius asked in mock curiosity. "Please enlighten us."

"Ones like, oh, no hexing teachers, or younger students-"

"Except Slytherins," Sirius cut in.

Remus sighed. "Sirius, you're not giving them any reason to turn away from their house, or from the Death Eaters."

"Oh," answered Sirius flippantly, "it's too late for most of them; you've never lived with all that pure blood supremacy shit. Most of them firmly believe that they are so far above everyone else that normal rules don't apply to them. I honestly don't think that most of them acknowledge the humanity of those with, less than pure blood."

"Besides, Moony, we do leave the younger ones alone. The older ones are just asking for it, especially Snivellus." James played casually with his wand, turning it around and around in his hand. He was perfectly aware that most other students found the action intimidating, but just the thought of Snape made him itch to use it.

"Oh good, you're still here." The pretty witch smiled down at them from her frame. "You were both wrong, you know," she laughed. "He went up to the Astronomy Tower."

"He did?" James was surprised. _Why would we bother to prank the Astronomy Tower?_ he wondered, _there wouldn't be anyone to see it._

Peter laughed again. "I guess he though we were out for a snog."

Sirius apparently didn't know whether to be horrified or amused. James watched his face contort for a moment before he said, "Peter, that's a mental image that I definitely didn't need."

The pretty witch in the portrait broke into their laughter politely. "Excuse me."

"Yes?" Sirius asked her, as the others were still laughing a bit too hard.

"I just though you might like to know that the Bloody Baron is heading this way, up from the dungeons."

James stopped laughing immediately and extinguished the light from his wand. He gestured for Peter to pick up the invisibility cloak as Remus and Sirius both extinguished their wands. In a matter of moments the hallway was plunged back into darkness. The faint glow from the remaining sickle of moon illuminated the now empty hallway, shining off the gilt frames of the portraits of long dead witches and wizards. But if someone had been listening very carefully they would have heard the soft beat of four sets of feet against the well-worn stone floor.

When they reached the Great Hall James threw off the cloak with a flourish and climbed up on the staff table, staring down at his friends dramatically. "Fellow Marauders," he began in a mock serious voice, "your attention please. It was on this spot, five years ago that we first found our noble calling. Little did we then realize the heights which we would aspire to, the challenges that we would overcome, not only for our own honour but for the glory of Hogwarts."

"Hear! Hear!" Sirius broke in, rocking up onto the balls of his feet and beaming up a James. He looked at the other two, as if expecting them to add something.

James fluttered his hand towards Sirius as he made a low bow in what he felt was a suitably melodramatic manner. "Tonight we will continue a noble Marauder tradition, integral to the continued excellence of pranking at Hogwarts."

Sirius whooped at this last statement and clapped, completely ignoring the look that passed between Remus and Peter. James decided to ignore it as well and continued on. "Keeping in mind our duty to uphold the honour of the Marauders and to keep the rest of the school entertained, preferably at the expense of the Slytherins- I now officially declare the Annual Halloween Prank… begun!" He flung his arms outwards at the last word.

Sirius applauded a trifle too loudly when he was done, wiping invisible tears from his eyes. "You were beautiful James, beautiful." Remus and Peter clapped politely as well, but, as James noted sadly, they didn't seem nearly as enthusiastic as Sirius did. He saw Remus lean over to Peter and whisper that if James had brought the entire school down on them that they would just blame it on James and Sirius.

"Come on," Sirius insisted, "there's lots of work to do, and I'd like to get some sleep before breakfast."

"Right then," James said briskly, "Peter you help Sirius with the pumpkins and Moony and I will work on the Professors' table."

"I found an excellent charm for this," Remus whispered to James as they walked over to the high table. "It's a modification of the Time Delay Charm but it allows you to actually trigger the spell in a solid object, causing anyone touching it in the moment that we set it off to be affected by the spell."

"Hmm," James considered, "what about their robes? The spell would have to go through them, it'd be a disaster if just their robes transfigured. Can you imagine Slughorn naked? Or _McGonagall_?"

Remus shuddered theatrically, "There's a mental image I could've lived without. But the charm was originally invented as a defensive measure that would be triggered during an attack, so I don't think that it will be a problem."

James could feel a grin creeping slowly across his face. "Are you sure? They could have used the spell and just hoped that it would hit enough people to make a difference."

"I doubt it." Still, Remus looked at James, concidering. "I think, however, that maybe we should test it- just to make sure of course."

"Agreed." James saw the logic in this; they wanted the prank to go off smoothly tomorrow. "I'm assuming that once you cast it I just have to cast my spell over top of it?" When Remus nodded, he continued, "Then try it on the Gryffindor table and set it to go off in two minutes. I'm sure Sirius won't mind sacrificing his body to pranking."

"I'm sure he won't," Remus laughed. "Just don't turn him into anything too noisy."

"Spoilsport," James muttered, but grinned up at his friend anyway. "Do it."

Remus crept closer to the bench and smirked at his intended victim before biting his lip in concentration. James looked beyond him to where Sirius was humming tunelessly to himself as he enchanted the decorations, completely unaware of his friends. James genuinely hoped that the fact that Sirius was slightly tone deaf wouldn't affect the musical talent of the pumpkins he was charming.

Small clouds were scuttling across the ceiling above, giving the moonlight a mottled quality, reminding James of the shadows on the shoals where he used to dive with his father. That, combined with Sirius' slow, lazy movements gave James all the inspiration he needed.

"Your turn." Remus turned and winked broadly at James.

James lazily flicked his wand and murmured a spell. They both watched Sirius happily working his way down the Gryffindor table, enchanting every decoration in sight. Remus tapped his wand once and James though that for a second he could see the air ripple before it engulfed his best friend. Standing in his place a moment later was a very angry-looking manatee. James roared with laughter as he considered this for a moment- _was it even possible for a manatee to look angry? Yes,_ he decided quickly as it came lumbering towards him, _if that manatee was Sirius Black._

"A sea cow." Remus was laughing hysterically beside him. "You turned him into a _sea cow_?"

"Seemed appropriate," James gasped out, trying unsuccessfully to breathe through his laughter. He was wondering, however, whether it had really been wise to turn Sirius into such a large animal. Sure, manatees didn't look fierce, but he was willing to bet that anything that big could do some serious damage to him. Fortunately, it was impossible for Sirius to move quickly in that form. After another outburst of laughter as the two boys watched their friend charge them down at approximately the speed of a lame flobberworm, James, deciding that Sirius was getting a bit too close, turned to Remus and said, "I think I'll change him back before he gets any closer."

James quickly reversed the spell and in the next instant he was bowled over by his best friend running full steam right over him.

"What were you thinking, Potter?" Sirius snarled about three inches from his face.

"We needed to test the spell." James knew that his laughter was not helping the situation. He just couldn't help himself. A moment later it ceased to be a problem as all the air was forced out of his body with a well-aimed blow to the stomach.

James grunted and whipped his arm around to aim an awkward punch at the other boy's head. The best he could manage from that position was a glancing blow to Sirius' temple but it seemed to stun Sirius for a moment as James was able to roll out from under him.

"Sirius!" Remus yelled and grabbed Sirius' arm as he lunged for James again. "We've work to do; if you fight we'll just get caught." Since his words did not seem to have any effect Remus continued. "Do you want to finish this prank or not?" Sirius stopped. "Besides," Remus added wickedly, "I'll let you beat him up when we get back to the dormitories."

Sirius laughed and James grinned back. Seeing that Sirius' rather unpredictable temper was back in control, James nodded at him. "Right then, you'd better finish with the pumpkins, Remus and I will set the charm on the Professors' chairs."

"Ah, no, James, _you_ go help Peter." He glared at Remus. "You two aren't to be trusted."

James laughed at him. "I think that you're forgetting something Sirius, I'm better at Transfiguration than you are."

"He's got a point," Remus added. "And you don't know the charm I'm using."

"I was thinking about that." Sirius answered. "Do you think that you could add a secondary levitation charm to that? It'll make it easier to see and we wouldn't want everyone to miss the fun."

"Easily," Remus answered, "now go finish up."

At about five in the morning on Halloween 1975 the four Gryffindor boys fell wearily into their beds for a few hours of sleep before their day would begin.


	2. Chapter 2

James whistled happily to himself as he got out of bed very early on Halloween morning. Earlier even than Remus. He loved Halloween. It was his favourite day of the year. Well, he supposed birthdays were excellent as well, and Christmas; but today was Halloween, and he was sure that this one would go down in history.

Remus was already beginning to stir; he always slept lightly. James wasn't sure if it was a symptom of his lycanthropy or just years spent sharing a dorm with him and Sirius, which was, as Remus protested loudly and often, a nervous business. There _had_ been those months in third year when they had thought that hexing people awake was the pinnacle of humour. Peter, who had never mastered sleeping lightly, had born the brunt of that stage.

Peter still slept deeply. He only groaned and pulled his blankets up past his nose when James opened their three windows with a bang. Sirius, however, threw a pillow across the room, mumbling angrily and incoherently.

"James, mate," Remus called, "it's bloody cold out. Is it absolutely necessary to keep the windows open all the time?"

James took one last deep breath of fresh air and turned away from the window; they had this conversation every year as the weather got colder. He hated how close the dormitory got without any air. It made him feel trapped. "Stop your wining, Moony, and don't be a pansy; it's a beautiful day."

"Too damn cheerful," Sirius complained from somewhere beneath the blankets piled high on his bed. "Moony, make him stop."

James laughed, feeling suddenly giddy. "And what isn't there to feel cheerful about?" He asked, pulling the covers back. "It's Halloween and we're about to pull off the best prank in the history of Hogwarts."

Sirius kicked at him listlessly. "Hate you," he mumbled. "Bloody wanker." James prodded him until he got out of bed, still muttering vague threats about how James wouldn't be so cheerful once he was through with him.

"You know," Remus observed as they pushed Sirius into the washroom, "you would say that it was a beautiful day if it was twenty below and a blizzard."

Sirius hated mornings; it always took the combined effort of James and Remus to get him out of bed and into the shower so that they could all be downstairs in time for breakfast, where he would drink gallons of coffee and hex any first years who got in his way. James was convinced that the only reason that Charms was his worst subject was because it was their first class every morning.

Halloween or not, today was no different. James and Remus nudged Sirius out of the dormitory and into the common room, Peter trailing behind them and yawning hugely.

Most people had learned to stay out of the Marauders' way in the mornings. Sirius was plain dangerous and Peter just sat nodding to himself over his porridge. Remus spent most of his time at breakfast hurriedly editing the paper that he had meant to read over the night before. That left James with a lot of free time on his hands; breakfast was when he got some of his prime planning time in. Of course, there was always class, but there were always so many people around in class that he got distracted. Besides, it seemed to irritate the professors.

This morning James sat looking up at the professors' table and thinking about that night. They would do it right after Dumbledore's speech and just after the headmaster sat down. Right before everyone left the hall.

McGonagall must have noticed him staring because she glared down at him, looking both angry and worried. Hoping to throw her off track James looked over at the Slytherin table and smirked. Hurriedly she leaned over and began conferring with Slughorn and Flitwick. James was quite sure that the three of them would be taking the table apart piece by piece before the feast, looking for curses. They wouldn't find any, of course, but James felt touched by their belief in the Marauders' skills. In fact, with the notable exception of Dumbledore, all the teachers seemed to be watching Gryffindor table much more alertly than usual.

James sighed; he supposed that the last three Halloweens had been nervous ones for the Hogwarts staff. They had been surprised the first year when four little Gryffindor boys had set off a hundred of Filibuster's wet start fireworks during dessert. Second year, when all the Slytherins' hair had turned red and gold no one had been surprised to see James Potter and Sirius Black dragged out of the room by McGonagall. It had been a childish prank, James admitted now, but in second year it had seemed the height of cleverness.

By the time that third year had come around they had discovered the way to navigate the kitchens, and consequentially everyone's dessert had exploded in their faces, triggering a massive food fight. James was still proud of their prank in fourth year. It had required a tricky piece of magic – much harder than anything they had tried before. They had animated the figures on the house banners and prodded them into a duel across the huge hanging in the Great Hall. If the professors had allowed the fight to continue, James was sure that the Gryffindor Lion would have won. Admittedly, however, he hadn't been counting on the Slytherin Snake being quite so venomous. McGonagall was positive they had been behind that prank, but she had never been able to prove it. It drove her crazy, and James was hoping for a repeat this year.

The key to evading capture, he had discovered, was to perform as many innocuous spells as he could between the time of the prank and the time he was questioned. This stopped the professors from summoning the shadow of any incriminating spell from their wands. By that standard, today's prank should be easy enough to pull off. Remus was the only one who even had to use his wand that night, and McGonagall always questioned him last.

He had to laugh. All the professors were watching alertly for any signs of trouble, but the trap was already set. They only had to spring the trap; that was where it could all go wrong. They somehow had to divert attention away from Moony for long enough to trigger the spell. Dumbledore's speech should help, but James wished he had a more sure-fire way to accomplish it. He didn't like relying on anything that he couldn't control. The trigger was fairly complex, and Remus would need some time. James glanced across the table at Sirius who was still staring morosely into his coffee. They could come up with something after lunch, during Transfiguration.

The classroom was absolute chaos. The lesson that day had been Transfiguring cats into parrots and the half-transfigured creatures clawed and flapped around the room frantically, their various composite parts working together awkwardly. James was amusing himself by surreptitiously sending sparks out of his wand to frighten Lisa Boland's cat into jumping off the table the moment before she cast her spell. She was getting more and more frustrated as she chased the spooked animal around the room for the third time. James chuckled to himself as she dove awkwardly under a desk, robes and hair flying everywhere, just missing the huge tabby.

Slightly bored, he looked around the room where most students were still struggling to transfigure their cats; Remus was quite close to succeeding as was Lily Evans, the pretty red head sitting two rows in front of him. James had hoped that she would try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team that year. She had the kind of natural athleticism that would have allowed her to succeed at any sport, regardless of experience.

As he watched, she finally completed the transfiguration and smiled contentedly at her bird as it flew twice around the room and then flew up to roost in the rafters with James and Sirius' birds.

James found himself smiling in response to her happiness. Still grinning, he summoned the birds to the back of the classroom and winked when she looked back at him. She rolled her eyes and turned back to Audrey Ramsey, but not before he saw her mouth curve into a badly suppressed smile. He watched her for a few more minutes as she helped Audrey correct her wand movements. Smiling again –no wonder she had got appointed prefect –he turned back to see what Sirius was doing. He was leaning lazily back in his chair, idly throwing balls of parchment at Peter's head. One ball was caught in Peter's shaggy blond hair, but he was still looking resolutely at his cat. His posture, however, betrayed his increasing irritation.

James was about to stop Sirius when he began to see the outline of an idea. "Sirius," James hissed and kicked at one of the carefully balanced legs of Sirius' chair. All four legs landed on the ground with a slam that made everyone in the class turn and look at them. McGonagall coughed sternly at the front of the classroom, however, and they all turned quickly back to their work.

His momentary irritation already faded, Sirius turned to James. "What is it?"

"I was thinking that we might need a distraction," James answered. "You know, tonight. Moony needs to be able to get that spell off."

"You're right." Sirius considered this thoughtfully. "We need something that will draw attention away from us."

James grinned at his friend and leaned forward. He felt very pleased with himself. "No, we need to make sure that no one is looking at Moony Think about it." He held up a hand to forestall Sirius' comment. "If we pull anything it won't be ten seconds before the entire school is watching all four of us. There's not much we can do about that. So let's make sure they'll be watching someone besides Moony." He leaned back and smirked at Sirius.

"Come on," Sirius said, dipping his head to look up at James, "I know you've got a plan."

"James has a plan?" Remus asked, turning around in his seat. "Should I be worried?"

"What plan?" Peter finally abandoned his work to look back at James in avid interest.

"To keep people from looking at Remus," James explained. He turned back to Sirius. "We have to make sure that no one is looking at Remus while he is casting his spell."

"What am I doing?" Peter asked eagerly.

"Nothing this time, mate," James answered. "We did most of the work last night and this will work better with only the two of us." Peter looked slightly disappointed. James felt a bit bad about that, but there wasn't much he could do – the last thing that they needed at that point was the potential for a botched spell and Peter tended to perform poorly under pressure. "Here's what we'll do…"

The Great Hall was noisy that night with loud chatter and the clatter of plates and dishes as the feast was served. Halloween seemed to excite the students, although no few of them prodded suspiciously at their food before eating it. James looked down at his own plate, which was piled high with as much food as he could get and topped with a potato carved in the shape of a pear. They would have to pay a visit to the kitchens soon, he decided; the house elves had much too much time on their hands.

As the last few students finished their dessert and the dirty plates began to disappear, Dumbledore cleared his throat and stepped towards the podium. James glanced down at his friends, it was about to start. Remus' foot was tapping slightly under the table, a sure sign that he was about to act. Peter's eyes were darting around the Hall and Sirius was smiling elatedly at James, his whole body tensed. James noticed that although most of the students were paying attention to Dumbledore, there were a good many glances aimed toward the back of the Gryffindor table, including those of most of the teachers. More and more glances were turned their way as Dumbledore finished his speech and sat back down. Surmising that they would indeed need a distraction James looked over at Sirius and nodded once, unnecessarily as it turned out. Sirius was already in action.

He jumped up onto the bench and began to sing. It was the new Celina Warbleck song, a romantic duet with Fenton Hughes. It was currently number one on the Wizarding Wireless Network. The entire hall was staring rather blankly at Sirius. James had only an instant to glance down and see Remus begin the spell before he had to jump up and belt out Fenton's reply. The entire hall was laughing then and, Merlin, James wished that he had taken into account their actual musical abilities when he had come up with that plan.

He breathed a sigh of relief and slid back into his seat when the hall suddenly went dark. "Doo do." It lightened a little bit and all the students looked up to see the jack-o-lanterns chanting in unison. "Doo do, doo do, doo do." There were scattered giggles as the muggle born students realized what theme the pumpkins were singing. Remus' father had taken them to a muggle movie theatre that summer. They had loved Jaws.

Suddenly a bird shrieked loudly through the Hall. Everyone whipped their heads back around to the front. Where Slughorn usually sat was a fat walrus, James had been inspired by Sirius' brief stint as a manatee. Hagrid had been transformed into a great shaggy bear. It hadn't really made that much of a difference in his appearance. James actually thought that he may have been slightly smaller than usual. Where Flitwick usually sat was a rabbit, his ears and nose twitching nervously as he looked down at Hagrid.

By now the Hall was in an uproar. Students seemed torn between laughing and rushing up to help. Several were staring at the four boys in shock, not believing that even they would have dared to transfigure a professor.

Up at the front it was chaos. Dumbledore was sitting serenely in the centre of the confusion, his eyes twinkling. He was looking out at the student body and James could have sworn that his eyes rested on them for just a minute too long. But the other professors had been turned into various creatures, magical and otherwise. They were all croaking and cawing and roaring their displeasure. Some of them were attempting to lift their wands in hands recently turned to paws, causing jets of sparks and bunches of flowers to shoot from the ends.

Dumbledore turned his head and began to look up and down the professors' table as he reached slowly for his wand. He was apparently looking for someone in particular.

James searched the room himself, looking, no doubt, for the same person. _Where is McGonagall?_ The joy of pulling one on her had been what had attracted James to this prank in the first place. If she had escaped he just didn't think that he'd feel the same about it.

Peter echoed his thoughts, "Where's McGonagall?"

"I don't…" Remus was scanning the ceiling intently. "No, wait, there she is." And there she was. James looked up above all the chaos and all the noise to see a brightly coloured parrot circling overhead.

Seeming to spot them at the same time that they spotted her, McGonagall gave a screech and dove at them, barely missing their heads with her talons before flying up to the front of the Hall.

Dumbledore looked at her unblinkingly for a moment when she landed on the table in front of him. "Why, Minevera, you are looking quite festive." She screeched at him and he chuckled, "Yes, I suppose so, well…" He lifted his wand. "…stand back from there."

Dumbledore waved his wand, and with a bang of displaced air McGonagall reappeared, standing on the raised platform. After shooting one angry glance, she turned back to the table and began changing her colleagues back to their natural forms.

Seeing that the Deputy Headmistress had the situation under control, Dumbledore turned back to the wide-eyed students. "I suppose that the feast is over for this year, you are free to return to your common rooms."

No one moved. The entire student body looked expectantly up at McGonagall as she finished her job and turned back to the Hall. "POTTER, BLACK, LUPIN, PETTIGREW!" she bellowed, "to my office NOW!"

Sirius' shoulders were shaking with suppressed mirth, and Remus' jaws and fists were clenched so tight in an effort to keep a straight face that James thought that he was in danger of breaking a tooth. Peter was giggling openly to himself and James didn't even try to hide his grin as he jumped up on the table and bowed to everyone before following McGonagall out of the Hall.


	3. Chapter 3

"Nothing." James flopped exultantly down onto his bed. "She's got nothing on us."

"That was a fast bit of spell work, Moony." Peter said admiringly.

Sirius meanwhile was rummaging through the pile of school books and parchment that he had dumped out of his school bag and onto his bed. "Got it!" he announced triumphantly and held up a quill and a bottle of colour changing ink. He strode over to the door and closed it with a resounding slam. The backside of the door revealed a large piece of parchment tacked to it. The previously hidden parchment bore only two words: "Marauders vs. McGonagall." Each name surmounted a column full of tallied marks.

Sirius raised the quill in the air and with a flourish added a mark to the marauders' side of the sheet.

"At this rate," Remus observed dryly from where he was stretched out across his bed. "We may even catch up with her by the time we graduate."

"We're gaining," James answered from where he was perched on the window ledge.

"The look on her face was the clincher," Sirius noted. "Torn between rage and disbelief… This men, is what legends are made of."

"Legends?" James asked. He liked the sound of it. "The Marauders: terrors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Irritants is more like it." Remus smiled at them. "Let's face it lads, we're annoying and slightly amusing-" James choked slightly at this last statement "-but we're hardly terrifying."

"Oh, I don't know about that _Moony_," Sirius observed from where he was lounging on his bed. "I hear you can be quite terrifying yourself."

Peter giggled nervously in the following silence. Remus looked at Sirius for a moment then smiled. "I guess I'm the only true legend in the room then. First werewolf at Hogwarts."

"Surrounded by the three youngest soon to be Animagi," James retorted. "We'll get there yet."

"We'd better hurry up," Peter pointed out. "Sirius only has a little over a month on Renaldo Sanchez."

Sanchez, a twelfth century wizard, was currently the youngest Animagus ever recorded. He had succeeded in transforming himself into a wombat just after his sixteenth birthday. James, Sirius and by default Peter were quite determined to complete their own transformations before Sirius turned sixteen half way through December.

Remus shifted slightly in his bed and looked down at his hands. His gaze flickered around the room when Sirius announced confidently that they'd make it and his mouth twisted into something between a smile and a grimace. James was worried about that. Up until this year Remus had been quietly and unobtrusively supportive of his friends' project; this year he seemed torn. James thought that maybe their progress in the last few months had alarmed him. Or maybe it was just another symptom of what Sirius had dubbed 'prefectitus'. Being a prefect hadn't noticeably changed Remus' behaviour. The main result seemed to be occasional bouts of guilt and speeches about betraying Dumbledore's trust. Occasionally he made vague statements about confessing but they never amounted to anything. Once it was time to plan the next prank he would throw himself into the preparations with as much enthusiasm as he always had.

All the professors were short with them the next day. McGonagall actually kicked them out of transfiguration on the assertion that they were smirking. Even Slughorn was in a bad mood. He glared at the students and smashed his potion ingredients down with unusual force. However he wasn't quite able to inspire the fear that McGonagall had. Despite his best efforts students were giggling and gossiping behind his back. On enterprising artist had created a cartoon of a walrus with a huge moustache and was passing it around the classroom.

Sirius laughed loudly when he saw it. Slughorn's hand tightened convulsively around the beaker he was holding. It shattered, spraying distilled mandrake all over his desk.

The class went silent as Slughorn stared at them, red with impotent fury. James bit down hard on the inside of his cheek as he struggled to keep a straight face. There were even poorly concealed smiles on the faces of several Slytherins.

Eventually the class turned back to their cauldrons but Slughorn spent the rest of the period watching his students with an awful kind of forced joviality. He avoided looking at the four Gryffindors and James thought that it was probably for the best. It would blow over in a week or so but he really didn't want to enrage Slughorn any further at the moment. He could be unpredictable when someone hurt his pride.

Even Lily Evans who was usually Slughorn's favourite stayed out of his way as she quietly handed in her potion and packed up her bags at the end of class. James noticed this in passing as he brought his and Peter's potion up to the front to be graded. Potions was the only class that he and Sirius didn't work together. Remus and Peter were both so abysmal at the subject that they didn't really leave them much choice. It wasn't that Peter was stupid really, just forgetful; but in Potions timing was everything so James generally had to keep and eye on him.

James fell into step with Sirius as they left the dungeons. Sirius shoved a piece of parchment under James' nose. It was the drawing of Slughorn the walrus. "Brilliant isn't it?" he asked. "I think we should make a little addition to our book.

"If you think it would be useful," James replied absently. He was slightly preoccupied wondering where Remus had got to. James looked back, Remus was talking to Evans- they must have started talking during their rounds because Remus had a relaxed and open smile on his face. A smile that James didn't often see in public.

James dropped back farther to hear what there were saying. "I know it was you," she remarked dryly, "everyone knows it was you."

"They don't know it was us," Remus replied mildly. "They suspect it was us."

"Are you admitting it?" Her tone could have been amused but without seeing her face James couldn't be sure.

"I'm not admitting anything. Just pointing out the facts." James grinned. Moony could stonewall better than anyone he knew. Peter could never quite keep himself from laughing and Sirius' attitude was a bit too much like a challenge for most people to believe. As for James himself, it wasn't too often that he denied anything at all. He liked his hard work to be appreciated.

"Something interest you Potter?" He turned around to see Evans looking at him. She raised an eyebrow.

"No," he answered, "just thought I'd see what was keeping Remus. I didn't know that it would be a girl."

"You must be pleased with yourself James," she said, sounding darkly amused and ignoring his last comment. "It's only a matter of time before you get caught. We have a bet going on in our dormitory."

"Really?" He couldn't keep a smile from creeping across his face. Remus rolled his eyes. "And how long did you think we'd make it, Evans? A week? A month?"

She laughed. "I don't think you'll last the day. I've got five gallons riding on it." James spluttered. "You turned McGonagall into a _parrot._ McGonagall. Parrot." The corners of her mouth were twitching upward. "You didn't think you'd get away with it."

"They haven't caught us yet," James answered cockily, regaining his equilibrium. "If they could have pinned it on us they would have." She raised an eyebrow and he leaned in closer. "Why Lily, it's almost as if you _want_ us to get caught." He winked.

Her reaction wasn't quite what he had been expecting. She let out an irritated huff of air and pressed her lips together. "How astute of you Potter." She turned back to Remus. "You've only been a prefect for two months. You'd better watch out, McGonagall's going to have your badge."

James suddenly felt very irritated. "Where do you get off lecturing him, Evans?" She had been laughing along with everyone else the night before. He glared at her and didn't bother to keep the angry edge out of his voice. "Remus is the best person they could have chosen for the job."

She whirled towards him, jaw clenched and green eyes narrowed. "I suppose that's true, seeing as you and Black were the other options." Her eyes met his for a moment before she gave a contemptuous shrug and sped up to join her friends.

James watched her go. "Temper," he remarked to Remus, still watching her back.

"Did it ever occur to you to you that I could stick up for myself?" Remus asked sardonically. "Or that we were having a perfectly lovely conversation before you showed up?"

"Pardon mate?" James asked. He hadn't really been paying attention.

"Of course not." Remus sighed and shook his head. "You didn't have to antagonize her James," he added in a more tolerant tone. "I have to work with her."

"She'll come around." James turned back to Remus and smiled. Remus didn't look convinced.

All in all James was feeling quite pleased with himself when he ran down to the Quidditch pitch after class. Their captain Aidan, a burly sixth year was already there batting a bludger back and forth with his fellow beater, Kathrine.

"Aidan, Kat," he greeted them before he swung a leg over his broom and shot up between them. The bludger turned in midair and went after him. Katherine laughed as she and Aidan joined in the game. With two beaters against one chaser the end was inevitable. James managed several good moves and one very impressive and slightly out of control dive before he felt the ball slam into his thigh with bruising force.

He took a deep breath and grinned before reluctantly landing on the pitch were the rest of the team had gathered. He could hear Kat land beside him, still laughing. She swung a companionable arm around his shoulders, an awkward operation since he had grown taller than her, and smiled at him. "I win Potter."

"For now," he answered. He looked down at the blond girl with affection. Now in her seventh year Kat had 'adopted' him his first year on the team. She had introduced him around and taught him the ropes. She had soon learned to keep an eye on the foolhardy and rather injury prone young chaser. James had later learned that the muggleborn witch had been missing her younger brothers.

Aidan joined them several minutes later after wrestling the bludger back into the box. "Alright," he began, "the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff game is in two weeks. I've booked the pitch every other day after class. You will be here, no excuses-" he glared at Geoffrey the third year chaser and the new player on the team "-and no detentions." He looked pointedly at James who grinned back at him. "I mean it Potter; hold off until after the game. We're lucky you got off last night." Aidan shook his head. "Right, chasers run a two on one drill with the keeper. James, you against Geoffrey and Finn for the first bit. After a couple of minutes switch it up with Finn. Once Kat and I finish warming up, we'll join you and run interference. Bea." He turned to Beatrice Sinclair, the seeker. "Run a couple of laps through the obstacle course then release the snitch."

"Alright then." Their Keeper Anne clapped her hands together. "Lets go." She kicked off and began to circle the hoops.

It was during their scrimmage near the end of practice when James noticed a small figure standing far below them on the sidelines waving frantically. Aidan apparently noticed him as well because he blew his whistle to signal the end of practice. As he landed James noticed that it was Glenn, a sixth year prefect. "Potter," he said officiously as soon as they got within hearing distance. "Professor McGonagall wants you to go to her office immediately." James felt an icy cold feeling settle in the pit of his stomach. He handed his broom to Finn and began to walk back to the castle without bothering to change. When McGonagall said immediately she meant it.

Sirius, Remus and Peter were already waiting in McGonagall's office when he arrived. Sirius gave him a rueful shrug as James joined them but he didn't look overly concerned. Normally the situation wouldn't have bothered James either but, as Aidan had reminded him, he didn't want to miss too many practices before the match.

In the past McGonagall had sometimes been willing to rescheduling his detentions in the interest of Gryffindor's Quidditch standings but he had a feeling that she wouldn't be open to the suggestion this time. If anything she looked even more furious that the night before. She was actually shaking with rage and her tall hat was slipping off her head. "Seeing as you've finally arrived Mr. Potter, we can proceed." She turned around and strode out of the door. James raised an eyebrow at his friends, surprised that she hadn't continued to lecture them.

"She's taking us to see Dumbledore mate." Remus whispered to him.

"Mr. Lupin." Her strident voice came from the corridor. "I have no interest in what you have to say and I'm sure that Mr. Potter doesn't either." The implied threat of 'if he knows what's good for him' hung in the air.

They didn't try to talk again but as they followed her James hurried past Remus and Peter to walk beside Sirius. He nudged the slightly taller boy with his elbow and raised his eyebrows at him, amused in spite of himself. Sirius smirked at him in a self satisfied way and continued walking.

As they walked James mentally reviewed the prank in his mind, wondering where they might have been caught. It worried him that he couldn't pin it down. Still he felt a good deal less nervous than Peter looked as they climbed the stairs to the headmaster's office. Although most of their pranks were too insignificant to trouble Dumbledore with them had been summoned here often enough that James felt familiar with the room, and the man behind the desk. James always had the reassuring feeling that Dumbledore was laughing at them behind his grave façade.

McGonagall's expression however was not comforting. Aidan was going to kill him. Hufflepuff had an excellent team this year and as much as he hated to admit it the Gryffindor side would need all the practice they could get. James tried to gaze back at Dumbledore unconcernedly but he could tell it wasn't working when Sirius gave him a concerned look. Remus generally stared at his hands for the duration of these meetings and Peter always shook nervously.

James and Sirius had agreed however that it better suited their image to stare coolly and calmly back at the headmaster, something they usually excelled at. James hoped that he usually looked as cool and casual as Sirius did at these times, although he had a sneaking suspicion that he did not. Instead of trying to suppress a grin as he usually did James bit the inside of his cheek and squinted slightly at Professor Dumbledore. He didn't want to let on that he was worried.

"It has come to my attention," Dumbledore began, "from several reliable sources that not only were you four out of your dormitory last night after curfew but that you were seen in a corridor leading to the Great Hall." His eyes twinkled as he looked at them over his steepled fingers. "I feel that it would be unfair of me to question you about the incident directly, however, I must ask you if this information is accurate."

"Yes sir, it is." James sighed inwardly as Sirius answered for all of them. It was an understood but unspoken rule that they never lied directly to Dumbledore. All four of them had a good deal of respect and even affection for the old wizard. Remus especially felt quite indebted to him.

"I see." Dumbledore looked calmly at them over his half moon spectacles. "Well then, I feel that it is my duty to inform you boys that you are the prime, indeed the only suspects for the incident last night involving the temporary transfiguration of my entire faculty. Quite a bit of difficult bit of spell work for fifth years, however Professor McGonagall feels, and I agree, that you would be quite up to the challenge." He looked at them significantly and James had a sudden horrible suspicion that he knew about their work on Animagi transformations. Relief surged through him when a small smile crossed the Headmaster's face. _Surely he couldn't know._

"If you have nothing else to say in you're defence?" They all shook their heads. "Well then let's see if we can employ your time more productively. I think that we've established that detentions don't really act as a deterrent for you four; however appearances must be kept up. It would be best, in this case, I believe for you to put your talents to use for the rest of the students at this school." James looked carefully at the headmaster. This was something new. McGonagall usually just assigned them to help Pringle clean out the hospital wing or to help Hagrid tend the grounds.

"I am, of course thinking of a splendid idea that the muggles thought up called community service." James, Sirius and Peter looked reflexively at Remus, who, thanks to his father was their resident expert on muggles. He seemed to be amused, and James decided that this 'community service' must not be too bad. "James." he looked up at the headmaster at the sound of his name. "You will spend three hours a week until the end of the term helping Professor McGonagall and Professor Ashby tutor the younger students in Transfiguration and in Flying." James snuck a glance at McGonagall. She didn't seem to be too pleased with idea and was eyeing him suspiciously. He snapped his head back around to the front and suppressed a smile. At least this wouldn't interfere with his Quidditch practices.

It turned out that Sirius would be tutoring the first years in Ancient Runes and Potions while Remus and Peter would be taking Arithmacy, Charms, Divination and Muggle Studies respectively. James wasn't really sure what to think about this new development. He didn't exactly fancy spending his free time with some swotty first years but he doubted they would have the nerve to interrupt him during Quidditch.

"This is complete bollocks," Sirius burst out as soon as the gargoyle stepped back in place behind them. It was just after curfew and his words echoed through the empty halls. "At least with detention we can just polish the trophies or explore the forest and be done with it. This way I actually have to spend time with a bunch of first years."

"I think that was the point Sirius." Remus smiled and lengthened his stride to keep up with his taller friends. "Detention isn't supposed to be enjoyable."

"Alright for you Moony." Sirius spat out. "You like the little buggers." Remus wisely decided not to reply to this last remark.

"Come on mate." James tried. "At least we'll get to make our own hours." _And I won't have to miss practice_ he added silently.

Sirius looked at him incredulously, and then let out a loud sharp laugh. "Keep dreaming mate, you don't think that McGonagall's going to let us do this unsupervised?"

James considered this for a moment. While it was true that McGonagall had a bit of a soft spot towards them for the most part, she certainly didn't trust them. James didn't think that she'd leave him alone with a group of younger students. Especially if any of them were in Slytherin. The thought struck James like a fist to the stomach. "You don't think she'll make us teach Slytherins, do you?" He asked his friends apprehensively. Sirius looked horrified at the thought. "She better not," James stated vehemently.

"I wouldn't worry too much," Remus interjected. "I think she'll try to avoid a potential bloodbath."

"Come on Moony." That made sense and James' high spirits returned. He shoved Remus lightly in the shoulder. "We're not that bad."

Remus let out a loud huff of air and rolled his eyes but he couldn't keep the grin off his face. "I suppose not. But your captain might not agree. What are you going to tell Aidan?"

"I'm golden." James almost crowed with delight. "Hooch can't very well teach students while we're practicing and McGonagall wants the cup almost as much as I do. Give her a bit to cool down and she won't to anything to endanger our chances. We're going to win it this year boys, I can feel it."

Sirius rolled his eyes and shrugged as if to say is that all you ever think about?

"What I'd like to know," Peter piped up, slightly breathless and red faced. "Is how they found out it was us."

James blinked and even Sirius stopped walking to look at Peter. It was an excellent point; James had been so worried about missing Quidditch that he hadn't even considered how Dumbledore had found them out.

McGonagall had checked their wands the night before and found nothing of significance. What could have changed between now and then? James mind was racing. Had anyone over heard them talking last night? It was unlikely in their dormitory. They were the only four Gryffindor boys in their year. He sometimes uncomfortably wondered if Peter would have become their friend if there had been anyone else. Most of the time however he took it for granted that everything had turned out that way.

"You don't think the Fat Lady…" Sirius began.

"No," Remus disagreed. "She never has before and besides we were under the cloak, she couldn't prove who it was."

"But you know who could have," James said slowly as he considered the possibilities. "That girl in the portrait- she saw us."

"But why would she tell Dumbledore?" Peter asked curiously, "You don't think he asked all the portraits do you James?"

"I doubt it." Sirius spat out disgustedly. "You know how girls gossip." He looked witheringly at James before remarking "the minute you say anything to them it's all over the school. She was probably telling all her little portrait friends and it got back to the head master's office."

Remus groaned, "We should have known better than to take the cloak off. Scratch that, we _do_ know better. How many times have we done this?"

"But it's getting so crowded under there." James protested quietly. He could feel his chest tightening at the thought and he took a deep breath before he smiled at Remus. "We have to stretch out sometime."

Sirius elbowed him in the ribs and smirked. "Don't worry about it Potter, it's won't be so scary once we make the transformation. I'm sure one of us will be small enough to make a difference."

"You think I'm afraid?" James glared at Sirius and crouched down. "It's you who had better be scared Black." With that he leaped at his friend. Sirius laughed and jumped out of the way before taking off down the hall. James ran after him as soon as he could get his balance back and laughingly chased him down the deserted corridor leaving Remus and Peter far behind.


	4. Chapter 4

The Great Hall was much too silent. James could hear his footsteps echoing off the still dark ceiling as he walked over to the empty Gryffindor table. The house elves hadn't even set out the plates yet. The lack of food was slightly frustrating actually, he was always famished when he woke up and he really didn't want to even think about eating anything much closer to the match.

In fact the match was the reason that James was down in the Great Hall alone before sunrise. He had been almost too excited, _not nervous_ he told himself firmly, to sleep the night before. Instead he had stayed up until past midnight by the dying fire going over the play book with Aidan. And he had still woken in the predawn darkness and slipped out of his dormitory, unable to keep still and silent.

The first Quidditch match of the season was always the most nerve wracking, apart from the final. James didn't usually mind that much; he thought it gave him an edge. Still, the Hufflepuff team was good, and unlike his team they were all returning players. They were the only real competition the Gryffindors had for the cup and James was desperate to win it this year. They had pulled a surprise win his first year on the team and had taken the cup both years since. He knew also that this year might be his last chance to win the cup. Aidan and James were the only returning players who would be staying for another season. Geoffrey and Beatrice were playing their first game today and everyone else would be graduating in the spring.

Still thinking about the upcoming game James jumped up and started pacing. The Hufflepuff seeker was really much better than Bea but Aidan and Kat were the best beaters in the league by far. _I'll be the best chaser on the field today_ James thought, and he and Finn had been working together for three years. They worked smoothly together, almost anticipating the other's moves, almost like he could with Sirius when they snuck out together late at night. Reassured of their ability to put up a good game James sat back down at the Gryffindor table to wait for the rest of the team to come down.

Five minutes later his hands were tapping out an irregular beat on the table and one knee was jiggling under the table. He liked the way that the sound echoed around the too quiet room. Waiting patiently was not something that James excelled at, unless it had to do with setting up a prank, and even then he much preferred getting on with his work. Although he appreciated the fact that he could get an early start on match days he much preferred the noisy and rushed mornings up in the dormitory with his friends. Absentmindedly he started humming a few bars of a simple melody, and then grinned. Very quietly he began to sing under his breath.

To Praise our House we stand and sing,

The Red and Gold will win the day,

Three cheers for Gryffindor; Let the Lions Roar,

As we Charge into the fray!

Lift up your spirits 'til the battle's won,

Fight on with all heart true.

There are heights to reach today,

Down with the Green, Yellow and Blue!

James had just loudly started into the unofficial and rather inappropriate second verse when an amused laugh echoed through the room. He whipped his head around to where Christopher Follet was standing in the doorway.

"Don't let me stop you, Potter," he said and grinned as he sat down at the Hufflepuff table. "I had no idea that the Gryffindor team was so musical, do you dance too?"

Christopher was in James' year and played keeper. Despite the fierce yearly rivalry between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor for the Quidditch cup James liked him quite a bit. He knew, despite the fact that neither would ever mention it that Christopher felt the same.

James ran a hand through his already messy hair and winked across the hall, "only in circles around you Follet." he replied.

"Don't let Black catch you winking at other boys," the keeper shot back sharply, "you wouldn't want him to get jealous."

James laughed off the old joke easily and grinned at the other boy. "Old news," he yawned. "Now Holly and I…" he trailed off suggestively. Holly Eisenling was one of Christopher's best friends and the fact that he fancied her was one of the worst kept secrets in the school. Although, James reflected, there were really very few well kept secrets at Hogwarts. Remus' lycanthropy was one and the other, well, James didn't think that even Dumbledore know about that one.

"In your dreams." Christopher answered, but he leaned forward in his seat and banged his mug down just a bit too hard.

"Maybe she just wanted to be with the winners of the cup for a change." James continued, bringing the taunting back onto familiar grounds. Hufflepuff had barely lost the cup to the Gryffindors for two years running.

"Enjoy it while it lasts." Christopher leaned back, looking relaxed again. "You only have a few more hours to savour victory. Feel free to come to the party tonight though; Hufflepuff common room- anyone wearing yellow and black is welcome."

James laughed. Christopher would have made a stellar Gryffindor; Peter never would have had the guts. He pushed the thought away and replied, "Sorry Chris, I won't have time for a pity parties- rude of the team to miss their own victory party and all. Still, if you really need it I'm sure I could dig you up a red scarf or something."

Students were starting to trickle in covered in gaudy rosettes. Many of them had letters painted across their faces and several of the more enthusiastic students had even charmed their robes red or yellow. Most of them were looking at James and Christopher with interest.

"You're pretty cocky there Potter, feel _brave_ enough to put your pride where you mouth is?" James was acutely aware of the other students watching the proceedings. He ran a hand through his hair before replying.

"And I suppose," James drawled, "that you think _hard work_ will be able to save your team? I suppose loyalty will make you bet for the losers."

"Three galleons Potter." Christopher shot back.

"You're on," James agreed, "but let's make this a bit more interesting. Loser spends tomorrow supporting the winners, signs and all."

"Done! See you on the field James." James tipped an imaginary hat at him and sat back feeling pleased with himself- and just a bit nervous.

"We'd better not lose," he muttered to Aidan, who had sat down beside him. "There's no way I'm dressing up as a bloody Hufflepuff." Aidan just laughed.

"I don't know James; yellow could be your colour." Remus, along with Peter, took the seat across from James as a remarkably awake Sirius slid in beside him, a bright Gryffindor scarf wrapped around his neck. Like Sirius, Remus had lines of greasy red paint drawn across his cheekbones and a bright scarf. Peter, however, was decked out in head to toe red, topped off with a shiny gold hat. James grinned at him.

As breakfast was finishing up the owls cam streaming through the windows of the great hall. James paid them no mind until a handsome tawny owl landed in front of him and held out his leg importantly.

"Alberic." James acknowledged his family owl and reluctantly reached out and untied the crisp white envelope around his leg. On the front of the envelope, written in his father's precise script was his usually address: Mr. James Potter, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

James glared at the letter for a second before deliberately crumpling the perfect lines of the paper and shoving it into his pocket. Why it had to come the day of the Quidditch match of all days…

He looked up and rolled his eyes at his friends. He smiled. He was content for now to push his father's letter to the back of his mind.

It was then that he noticed her. She was sitting several seats down from the team. Her head was thrown back and she was laughing at something Angela Prewett had said. Her red hair clashed horribly with her bright scarf and she had smeared war paint around her eyes and down her nose. There was even a dot on her chin. It was adorable. He vaguely noticed that Angela and Isabella had done the same, but it didn't really matter. It was almost possible to convince himself that she was cheering just for him.

"James!" Sirius punched him in the shoulder. He looked back at his friends, Remus' face was determinedly blank but there was tightness around his eyes and mouth and Peter was chuckling silently. James was about to protest, although he wasn't sure exactly what, when Sirius nodded towards Aidan.

"Alright team." Aidan stood up. "Move out."

He could hear the low roar of the crowd from above the dressing room as they gathered to listen to a few last minute words from Aidan. Kat, Anne and Beatrice, the seeker, joined them about ten minutes before the game. This was what Aidan had been waiting for. He cleared his throat.

"As you know," he began, "Gryffindor has won the Quidditch cup the last three years running." James and Kat whooped loudly and the whole team clapped. Even the normally stoic Finn cracked a grin. "I know that many of you are leaving at the end of this year." He nodded to Kat, Anne and Finn. "So let's end on a high note and have a perfect season." More cheers. "Hufflepuff is going to be a tough match. West has put together one of the best sides in years. All returning players and they damn near beat us last year. Don't let up on them; don't give them an opening because they will take it. Boys," he looked at James, Finn and Geoffrey, "their chasers are their weak point, and they're going to tire easily. I want you to keep them in their own end, make them play a defensive game. Play an aggressive, offensive ball; I want you directing the pace of the game." James smiled in satisfaction; that was he favourite kind of Quidditch, fast and rough.

"Now Kat and I will be around to help out," Aidan continued, "but we're going to be keeping an especially close eye on the seekers so you're going to be on your own for the most part."

James looked over at Beatrice- Bea- who was looking intently up at Aidan. Her hands were twisting compulsively in her lap and he sighed. Everyone knew what Aidan meant, even if he refused to say it. Adam West, the Hufflepuff seeker was a better flyer than Bea, a much better flyer.

Beside James Geoffrey was also looking a bit green. This would be the first game for both of them. Tryouts had been disappointing that year, neither of them showed any special talent for the game, although Geoffrey would be a solid player if he could overcome his nerves. James wouldn't have put any money on it however. Finn put a comforting hand on the younger boy's shoulder as they lined up and marched onto the pitch.

All of James' nerves, all of his tension just fell away as he stepped out onto the open air of the Quidditch pitch. He took a deep breath feeling his heart rate pick up and his muscles clench in anticipation. This was where he belonged.

He knocked his shoulder against Geoffrey's in a friendly way as they jostled into their positions. He switched places with Anne so that he could line up opposite Christopher. He met his eyes and grinned confidently at him. Sure at last that they could not lose.

"Ok teams," Hooch the new flying instructor began. James crouched slightly, adjusting his grip on his broom. "I'm expecting a fair game." She blew her whistle twice and threw the quaffle up into the air. James swung a leg over his broom and launched into the sky. His shoulder collided painfully with that of the Hufflepuff chaser as they both reached for the red ball. It bounced off James' finger tips and fell. Reacting instantly he turned into a nose dive and went racing after it.

Geoffrey and Finn were already a quarter of the way down the field when he easily scooped up the falling quaffle and took off after them. By flying low to the ground he forced Emily Jacobs, the Chaser dogging him to make a decision. _Come on_ he urged her silently as he sped towards the goal posts. He dodged a bludger which thunked into the ground behind him.

He watched her intently out of the corner of his eye. When he was almost at the goal posts she dove. James grinned and as she dedicated herself fully to the manoeuvre he pulled his broom up sharply and shot upwards.

He passed the quaffle quickly over the second Chaser's head to Finn who swooped around the keeper once, twice, before dropping it to Geoffrey who easily lobbed it through the right hoop. The Gryffindor section let out a roar of approval and James flew his broom up close to congratulate him as they took their positions further up the pitch. He was rewarded with a blinding grin.

The Hufflepuff Chasers were not nearly as individually talented as the Gryffindor side but they had been working together for much longer and they made a seamless team. They were smooth and focused whereas Geoffrey was nervous and unsure. James and Finn were playing a doubly lopsided game, compensating for the inexperience of their team mate and the absence of their beaters. The game was turning out to be much closer than James felt quite comfortable with.

After about an hour there were tied at 90 points each. It wasn't surprising, but he had hoped to be ahead by a good margin before the snitch was sighted. That way even if, as was likely, West caught the snitch the Gryffindors wouldn't be too far behind in the cup standings.

He purposefully pushed those thoughts from his head. They were Gryffindors, they would win of course. Still, he couldn't help but glance up nervously to where Bea was tailing West around the pitch. It was a safe strategy for a weak seeker, but one that rarely won games.

James looked back to the Hufflepuff Chasers just in time to see the quaffle go sailing underneath him. Without thinking he twisted until he was hanging below his broom and scooped the ball up with his left hand. He struggled for a few second to haul himself back up onto the moving broom and then raced down the field, completely breaking away from the Chasers on both teams.

Before anyone could catch up with him he fired it above Christopher's head for his fifth goal of the game.

Just as he had grabbed the ball and was preparing to toss it back over to Finn a huge roar went up from the crowd. He heard Hagrid, the groundskeeper, bellow "they've seen the snitch!"

He turned his head quickly, without slowing his broom and saw two shapes racing across the field in a red and yellow blur. West was pulling quickly ahead. James turned back to what he was doing and violently wrenched his broom to the right to avoid colliding with one of the Hufflepuff chasers.

As much as he wanted to look back he knew that even 10 points now would help their overall chances. The shot was a bit desperate as he was constrained by time but fortunately Christopher was too distracted by the chase to put up and effective block and the quaffle sailed unobstructed through the hoop.

No one seemed to pay the least attention to the goal and James realized that Hooch would restart the play after the seekers were done or not at all. So he turned and watched the action with the rest of the players—his stomach clenching uncomfortably. He urged Bea forward with everything in him and knew it was useless. West was the best seeker in the league and Bea wasn't. James had neither the time nor inclination to put it more kindly.

In the background he could vaguely hear the excited rush of the announcer's speech as West went into a steep dive. Bea was trailing slightly and on the periphery of his vision James noticed two red forms headed on a collision course with West—Kat and Aidan.

Kat swung her club and a bludger went flying directly at West's back. He quickly and skilfully rolled out of the way; and into Aidan's bludger.

Iron hit bone with a sickening crunch. His arm fell limp to his side and he instinctively curled his body in around it.

Bea hesitated for a moment, looking unsurely at the injured player. "Go!" Aidan screamed at her and she leaped into action. She bore down on the struggling snitch. it darted quickly away from her hands the first time she grabbed for it but the second time she seized it and raised it high above her head for a final score of 380-210, Gryffindor.

The Gryffindors in the stand went mad. They had been sure that they were about to lose a match for the first time in almost two years. James cheered along with the rest of them. He screamed himself hoarse as he raced down the pitch and enveloped Kat and Aidan and Bea in a huge pile of red and gold; adrenaline, sweat and excitement.

The beat Hufflepuff. They beat Hufflepuff! The team sank to the ground in a massive huddle, Bea still holding the fluttering snitch in her fingers. But Kat and Aidan were the real heroes of the game. It was them that the Gryffindors heaved onto their shoulders as the rushed onto the pitch.

Kat screeched as James grabbed her waist and hauled her onto his shoulders. He was surprised by how heavy she was; she had to have been all muscle on her small frame. She ruffled his hair affectionately as Finn grabbed her other side and they began to parade towards the changing rooms.

She was laughing and waving as they carried her. Beaters were rarely the heroes of the game and she seemed delighted at the attention she was receiving. James laughed himself, he felt giddy with the excitement and effort of the game and Kat's mood was contagious.

They didn't let her feet touch the ground until they had made their way through the crowd and to the door of the changing room. Sirius, Remus and Peter were standing on the edges of the field waiting for him. Sirius slapped him on the shoulder as he walked past and James let the rest of the team walk past him through the doors.

He was still feeling euphoric when Sirius grinned at him. "Good game mate. It was really a beater's match this time, eh?"

"I couldn't believe the way bludgers were flying at you," added Peter.

"Reminds me how important the beaters are to have on your side," concluded Remus. "Still, you and Finn played a solid game today. How do you think Geoffrey is going to fit in?"

"Did you see the play where--" Peter interrupted. James grinned at them all. They could, and probably would, dissect the entire game play by play in their dormitory later but right now all he really wanted was a shower, a fresh change of clothes and to celebrate with the team.

"Look," he said. "I've got to get in there, but make sure you save me some butterbeer."

It was tradition, while the team was bathing and going over the game the rest of the house would be busy arranging the party which was always in full swing by the time they got there. James knew that his friends supplied the food and butterbeer. He'd often gone with them on weekend runs to Hogsmeade and helped cart around the change. James didn't know how other houses arranged things like that but Gryffindor had a regular collection for their party fund, with everyone giving what they could.

"—claw," Aidan was saying as James walked through the door. "Potter, how nice of you to join us."

James rolled his eyes and took a seat on the benches beside Finn. "As I was saying," Aidan continued. "The next match is against Ravenclaw, having defeated Hufflepuff we're in an excellent position to make a strong bid for the cup."

Kat caught James' eye and shrugged her shoulders in resignation. Ravenclaw was a pushover and they all knew it.

"However, we all need more practice. I'll see you on the pitch Monday after class." Business done, Aidan allowed an excited grin to slip over his face. "That was brilliant team! Excellent work Kat. And Finn! That one play, it was just like Jimmy Greaves in 1966 in Oslo! When you dove past those two defenders, I almost didn't think you were going to get the shot off in time…"

Most of the team looked at him blankly as he continued. Aidan still seemed to think of Quidditch in terms of football, especially when he was excited. It confused the hell out of the purebloods, James included. He still remembered watching Aidan's first game against Slytherin, he had held up the entire match yelling something about an over half rule, or was it an on side rule? James wasn't sure.

Deciding that Aidan really wasn't going to finish anytime soon James decided to grab a quick shower and head back up to the castle. Sure enough when he emerged, towelling off his still damp hair, Aidan and Kat were still standing in one corner of the room discussing the game.

"Good match!" James called over to them. Kat whipped her head around to look at him.

"James, I though you had already gone up."

"No," he smiled at them, "I was talking to the boys and I missed showering with the team. You two just about ready to go up?"

Aidan looked at James and than back at Kat with an unintelligible look. She sighed and grabbed his arm. "Come on Jim, let's go." It didn't to anything to clear up his confusion when she turned to him in front of the portrait hole and ruffled his hair. "You're a good kid Jim, but you've got a lot to learn." She laughed then and left him staring after her.


End file.
